GREATER BOSTON SENIOR COMPUTER GROUP NEWSLETTER
Issue No.48, May 14, 2003
CHAIRPERSON:: Arline Ekman, AVE@alumni.unh.edu
EDITOR: Harriet Mandell, harrietd@rcn.com
WEB PAGE: Garry Ziffer, http://users.rcn.com/gbscg
LIAISON: Eve Welts, ewelts@rcn.com
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WHAT IS A WEBLOG/BLOG? A blog is a web page made up of usually short, frequently updated posts that are arranged chronologically—like a what's new page or a journal. The content and purposes of blogs varies greatly—from links and commentary about other web sites, to news about a company/person/idea, to diaries, photos, poetry, mini-essays, project updates, even fiction. Blogs are also excellent team/department/company/family communication tools. They help small groups communicate in a way that is simpler and easier to follow than email or discussion forums. Use a private blog on an intranet to allow team members to post related links, files, quotes, or commentary. Set up a family blog where relatives can share personal news. A blog can help keep everyone in the loop, promote cohesiveness and group culture, and provide an informal "voice" of a project or department to outsiders. This is a feature of the Internet worth a look at http://www.blogger.com/ Is Blogger Free? basic Blogger service is free for questions, problems, comments, use the help system.
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FUN TO DO but what for…Turn your favorite images into desktop icons. While viewing the picture go to the file menu and choose Save As and select ICO Windows Icon as your file type, and click Save.
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PROMOTIONAL CODES FOR SHOPPERS … http://www.currentcodes.com where you will find all types of bargains for 'net shoppers by category or store name. Others to try… http://dealcatcher.com and http://www.coolsavings.com and http://www.edealfinder.com You save even more if you don't buy anything!!!
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WINDOWS XP TIP…Running out of space on your hard disk? Use the Free Up Space on My Hard Disk task that pops up when you choose the Control Panel's Performance and Maintenance category. You can also call up My computer from the Start menu, right-click on your hard drive, and choose Properties. Click the Disk Cleanup button and windows calculates how much garbage it can delete. Select Downloaded Program Files temporary Internet Files, Recycle Bin, and Temporary Files. Click OK. Windows will erase the files, and free up space.
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FEEL GOOD NOTE… from member Hcmgowan@aol.com Inspired by attendance at our meetings he has been able to get computers installed and finally on line at the Malden Senior Center Council on Aging and at the five Senior public housing facilities there as well. Check out http://www.altrue.net/site/msac/ volunteers are welcome.
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UTILITY TO SHUT DOWN COMPUTER has many options and makes the job easier than the usual way Slawdog Smart Shutdown and is free. It can be found at the site http://www.slawdog.com/products/smartsd/index.htm
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WHEN ASKED, IS THERE ANY TECHNOLOGY THAT WILL HELP ME FILTER SPAM? … Garry Ziffer answered: I've been very happy with Mailwasher Pro (http://www.firetrust.com/). It looks at all my mail before it leaves the server. It can either immediately delete what it thinks is spam or let me take a quick look and tell it if any additional mail is spam as well. I get a lot of spam, but I doubt that when I turn on my computer in the morning I spend more than fifteen seconds extra because of spam."
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COMPUTER SUPPORT Standard no-charge support covers most Microsoft products. However, if your Microsoft product was preinstalled, distributed with your computer, or you obtained an upgrade directly from your computer manufacturer, your primary source for support is the personal computer manufacturer who provided your Microsoft software. Please check the docs that came with your personal computer for information on how to contact them or see the alphabetical listing of computer manufacturers at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=/support/webresponse/pid/oem.asp
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DO YOU NEED HELP AT HOME WITH ANOTHER COMPUTER PROBLEM OR QUESTION? Get friendly help and advice from volunteers in the Computer and Internet Q&A discussions. Select the discussion on the SeniorNet web site that matches your question or select the General Computer Questions discussion if you don't find a match. Go to: http://discussions.seniornet.org/cgi-bin/WebX?13@@.ee6eedc
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Turn Ordinary Words Into Graphic Objects… using word art in Microsoft Word. Among other things, you can sculpt text into a variety of shapes, flip or stretch letters, rotate or angle words, or add shading, colors, borders, or shadows to text. Here's how to experiment with WordArt: Position the insertion point where you want the WordArt object to appear in your Word document. Great for creating posters, etc. CHOOSE INSERT, Picture, WordArt, or click the INSERT WORDART BUTTON on the Drawing toolbar. The WordArt Gallery dialog box then appears. Select the WordArt effect that you like and then click OK, or double-click the effect you want. The Edit WordArt Text dialog box appears. Type the text you want to appear in WordArt. Click OK.
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UPDATE YOU ANTI-VIRUS PROTECTION to protect against the INCREASED NUMBERS OF INFECTIONS FOR THE WIN32.FIZZER WORM it is a worm spreading via the e-mail system and KaZaa network. It can also serve as a backdoor server to allow unauthorized access to the infected system. W32/Fizzer@MM is a Medium-On-Watch mass-mailing worm, which spreads by emailing itself to addresses in your Windows Address Book and others on your PC. It tries to terminate your AV software, contains a keylogger and attempts to spread using other programs, including IRC, AIM and Kazaa. It arrives as an executable email attachment, requiring users to double-click on the file to become infected. (Information from McAfee and EZ trust)
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WANTED: URL's of web sites; Helpful hints for Mac users, Win 95/98/ME/XP. Software reviews, desired topics for future meetings. Send these items via email to the editor. Please sign your email with your name. We will publish your email address, but not your name, phone number or address without your permission